The task Ino was about to undertake involved a secret of Konoha Village, and for both public and private reasons, she couldn't let Karin see it.
However, the girl had clearly been worried about her just now, so Ino couldn't be too heartless.
She patted Karin's shoulder, then pointed in a direction: "Go up the stairs this way, the second room on your left is my study. There are two Ninjutsu scrolls on the fifth bookshelf; you can choose one to learn."
Karin wasn't interested in learning Ninjutsu. She asked, "If I learn Ninjutsu, will I become useful to you?"
What does your learning have to do with me? I just want to send you away!
Ino became even more convinced that every single one of these Ninja was crazy.
She nodded vigorously: "Absolutely."
"Good!"
Karin was a typical 'need-to-be-needed' personality, incredibly excited, and ran upstairs to study.
Ino looked towards Naruto.
The situation was troublesome, but not fatal.
Sakura anxiously asked, "Shouldn't we go find Kakashi-sensei?"
Sasuke retorted, "What if that guy comes after us again? I don't think Kakashi can beat him."
It was clear that Sasuke's words held great importance in Sakura's heart; she instinctively wanted to nod in agreement, but seeing Naruto unconscious like a dead man, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Ino had the same concerns.
Kubisaki the chameleon's invisibility was strongest when he was motionless; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the best in the world. But once he moved, an experienced Jonin would notice something amiss with a little attention.
Taking Naruto all the way to find Kakashi now was too risky, and Kakashi couldn't solve this problem either.
Ino had a method and an idea.
There weren't many ways to acquire Nine-Tailed Beast Chakra, and now was a good opportunity.
Treating Naruto couldn't be done inside the Ghost Fortress. If the Nine-Tailed Beast Chakra erupted, the old Kubisaki, like a candle in the wind, wouldn't be able to withstand it.
They had to go outside.
Ino used her sensory ability to detect that Orochimaru was running farther and farther away, and Konoha Village's reinforcements were entering the Death Training Ground from three directions. She estimated that the crisis had been resolved.
"Naruto is clearly being controlled by a seal. If we go outside, I should be able to break it."
The others knew that her Ninjutsu was quite diverse, so they weren't surprised and left the Ghost Fortress one after another.
Ino told Karin to stay in the Ghost Fortress and continue studying, after which the group left the Ghost Fortress and found a very secluded cave.
Ino coughed: "Ahem, let me try. You guys hold him down."
After becoming Tsunade's disciple, the Third Hokage personally gave her an A-rank Sealing Technique scroll, the famous "Five Elements Seal."
This Sealing Technique was previously only known by the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya; Tsunade didn't know it.
Ino's apprenticeship stirred some old memories for the old man, so he gave Ino the "Five Elements Seal" learning scroll, which probably also implied that she should pass it on to Tsunade.
Naruto's "Naruto Uzumaki Barrage" was rated as an A-rank Ninjutsu. The difficulty of this move lay in the Shadow Clone. Once the Shadow Clone Technique was mastered, could the remaining crude Taijutsu be considered A-rank? D-rank was already too much.
The "Five Elements Seal" was rated as an A-rank Sealing Technique, and its difficulty lay in the Five Elements. Using this Sealing Technique required possessing five Chakra natures.
The Third Hokage and Orochimaru both had fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water, five Chakra natures, so using the "Five Elements Seal" was no problem. Jiraiya lacked one lightning nature, so he originally couldn't use this Sealing Technique.
However, Jiraiya's student and his student's wife were formidable. Relying on the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Technique and Minato Namikaze's Ninjutsu talent, the couple improved the "Five Elements Seal." Now, this Sealing Technique could use Yin and Yang natures to replace missing Chakra natures.
Jiraiya learned this improved version of the "Five Elements Seal," and then the Fourth Hokage gave the Sealing Technique to the Village. Now, the Third Hokage had given it to Ino again.
Ino lacked fire and lightning Chakra natures, but she could temporarily use Yin and Yang natures to substitute them. Plus, she was reversing the Jutsu to release the seal, which was easier than when Orochimaru placed the seal on Naruto.
She concentrated, and water, earth, and wind nature Chakra emerged from her five fingertips in sequence, then she used Yang Release to replace the fire nature and Yin Release to replace the lightning nature.
"When I release the seal, there will be a Chakra burst. You guys hold him down! Don't move, absolutely do not move!" she shouted.
Shikamaru, Choji, and Sasuke held down the unconscious Naruto tightly.
Choji was the most strenuous among them, his chubby face slightly distorted from the effort.
Ino's five fingers formed a claw shape, aiming at the new seal on Naruto's lower abdomen, and quickly pressed down, then reversed the Jutsu to release it.
"Five Elements Unseal!"
With a loud 'bang,' the Chakra inside Naruto's body pushed them all away.
Sasuke's head hit the nearby rock wall, leaving him with a bleeding head. He ignored his own injuries and looked at Naruto.
"How's that idiot?"
Seeing Ino not respond, he asked twice more.
It's my first time using it, how would I know what happened? That was a seal placed by Orochimaru!
Ino was a little dejected. She was so amazing, but her companions had no idea. Life was truly lonely.
After waiting a while and finding no signs of Naruto waking up, Ino checked and found that the "Five Elements Seal" interfering with the "Four Symbols Seal" had been released. The reason he hadn't woken up was likely due to something else happening during the period when the seal was interfered with.
To save someone completely, and because Ino also wanted to see what the Nine-Tailed was like, and how much Chakra the Nine-Tailed, 'evenly' distributed by the Six Paths Sage, actually had.
"I'll go wake him up. You guys protect me," she said.
Shikamaru and Choji instantly understood, and the two guarded her side.
Ino quickly formed hand signs and aimed at Naruto: "Mind Body Switch Technique!"
Her consciousness, enveloped in Chakra, rushed into Naruto's inner world. Logically, at this point, she could push the original owner's consciousness aside and take over, but this time, the Mind Body Switch Technique only completed halfway. She couldn't find Naruto's spiritual core at all.
"Where is he?"
A dark corridor, with a lot of standing water on the ground, and the entire space felt very cold.
With so much water on the ground, it certainly wasn't the Nine-Tailed's urine, and it had nothing to do with the "Four Symbols Seal" being located in Naruto's bladder area.
Even though Ino's Yin Release level and mental energy were very high, the mental energy of the Nine-Tailed that was leaking out from beyond the seal was still a bit much for her to handle. It was too chaotic. Naruto's ability to maintain an optimistic spirit for so long was truly remarkable.
Ino didn't see Minato's Chakra, Kushina's Chakra, or Asura Chakra here. She guessed that the big shots thought the current small problem didn't need their concern, so none of them showed up.
"Naruto?"
"Naruto?"
"Uzumaki Naruto?"
She called for a long time, but there was only the sound of dripping water, and not a single figure was seen.
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